Birthday Girl!!!

Happy Birthday Ewbliette!!!!!

Our First Snowman!!!

Here he is!!!

E spent the greater part of Tyoma's naptime making a snowman for him. I believe that this is the second snowman of our married life, and our first here in New Hampshire. I waited down by the our glass patio door to catch the little one's astonished reaction to the real life snowman that papa made for him:

"Meh!"
It seems that the amount of effort you put into delighting your child is inversely proportional to their actual delight! However, he was delighted with the beany-baby snowman that my mom sent to him:





Tyoma's sharing some chocolate cake!

Videos!

This is so sweet! Our little guy asks for "more!"

"EXIT"

It's been a few weeks since Tyoma started spelling, but I finally managed to take a picture.
 
 He can spell about 10-15 words and I'm pretty sure that he can read twice as many. Actually, he probably started to read over the summer, in fact he could probably read before he could speak.  Weird.  the question is, does he understand what he reads?  I think so.  He knows what "open" means and how it is spelled.  He can pick out text everywhere.  I drive to the store and he points out the open signs.  What an odd world he must perceive.  All this text, numbers, letters around him.  I wonder if he searches for meaning or if he just files away the information into his memory?

Mom sent links for hyperlexia.  I see so much in T, but then there is a disconnect.  He does so well at home, with people he trusts and random people at the store but he can have an unaccountable aversion to some folks.

A Drummer at Last!!!

At long last! I am so relieved that Tyoma is banging on pots and pans instead of arranging them into abstract patterns (well, only arranging them!) Also, his speech has picked up a good deal. He's starting to make simple three word sentences, not always every day, but often enough to be encouraging. Yay!

I wonder if the new diet is making a difference?

Lil' Organizer

Such a mischievous look! Tyoma organizes a mosaic of blocks. "Who me, PDD-NOS?! Nah!!!  Got anything else I can line up?"

GSCF Diet

Well, I decided to try "the diet" aka the gluten free, casein free diet.  I don't know it it will make a difference, but it's worth a try.  Tyoma has never really drank milk and is fussy over yogurt so that part is no big deal. Getting rid of wheat, though, that will be a challenge.

I called Dr. Dobbins who siad to avoid too restrictive a diet (don't worry about gluten if he's not having serious digestive problems) and shared her experience that diets don't always work for AS.  She did hook us up with resources for nutrtion and suggested a calcium supplement with vitamin D.

I wrote to Kindercare asking them not to give milk, but they spazzed out and requested a doctor's note.  I asked if they would withold milk as a "preference" instead.  All I had to do was write a note and bring in rice milk:

SUBJECT: Rice Milk/water for Artyom (Tyoma) Degtiarev

Dear KinderCare Staff,

Our family is modifying our son’s diet to facilitate his speech therapy. Please help us limit his exposure to dairy by replacing his milk with either rice milk (which we will provide) or water. We understand that you will not be eliminating dairy for him and that he will still eat yogurt, cheese and other dairy products according to your menu. By helping us with this voluntary intervention, you will be promoting Tyoma’s successful attainment of developmental goals. Thank you for you consideration and time.

Sincerely,

Behavioral assesment at kindercare

say what

SLP Surprise

I started the day hustling Tyoma off to preschool, while Tennisfiend lounged in bed. Afterwards, the two of us took off for breakfast at our favorite coffee place, J Beaner’s. We ordered the apple pancakes, which turned out to incomparably delicious! The yeast raised pancakes, similar to crumpets in texture, were baked on top of luscious cinnamon apples. Beautiful to look at, delicately spiced with cinnamon (too much cinnamon=Big Red chewing gum) and best of all, theses pancakes were not overly sweet. Yummy! Tennisfiend smoozed me, asking about my dream kitchen and I rambled on for most of the meal. New paint, new dining set, hutch for Tyoma’s arts & crafts. Breakfast was so nice; we plan to bring Tyoma sometime.

We did a bit of browsing after, Tennisfiend searched for cross country skis and I hunted for school paste. Do you remember that sticky, sweetish smelling stuff, perfect for macaroni pictures? We plan to make Moses proud! My day took a turn when our speech therapist (Karen) called wanting to know if she could come over today instead of this coming Monday. I felt totally put out, but I said yes. I like to mentally prepare myself, type up notes for her and make the house sparkle (even more). But, why not get it over?

So, naptime was spent writing my report (I do this for Tyoma, so we have a good idea of his progress, especially since he has some developmental issues). Anyway, the session went fine for about ten minutes. I really believed we would have a productive session, since last time was such a success, but then the toys kept coming out of her bag, and she kept pressing him to talk. Tyoma shut down and turned into the hyper-monster. Session over. Well, not really over. We talked and talked about autism. Too much.

These sessions need to be all about Tyoma and not some diagnosis that has not been confirmed! I need to remember this, too. I warned her that she was over stimulating him, but she seemed not to hear. He is wonderful with us and dreadful with her.

Fortunately, Tennisfiend came home at the peak of the situation. The three of us tried a game at her suggestion, which made everything worse. Our SLP said, “If only he would sit still and engage for 30 seconds!” Ack!!! My hubby took psycho baby to the side of the room and gave him his alphabet. In less than five minutes he was calm and talking. In six minutes, he was spelling words. She about died watching him spell “open,” “six” and “star,” chatting all the while.  I could tell that she felt bad, but I was vindicated.  I told her, “The moment Tyoma ran off into the other room, you lost him.” Sigh.

For the twentieth time, I seriously debated firing our SLP and replacing her with the SLP I met last week (Cheri). Tennisfiend suggested that we be calm and give her another chance—she sincerely cares about our son and does try hard.  In the meantime, we have a session (not speech therapy) scheduled for December with the other SLP, if she connects, we have a new therapist. If not, hmmmm…

Until then, I will take over the sessions, and squeeze the appropriate therapy from Karen, especially when it looks like Tyoma is getting alienated. Tennisfiend thinks our SLP doesn’t seem to understand what she’s doing wrong and won’t change unless I teach her another way. This makes sense, the session I “took over” last time was fantastic; I guess expecting her to remember and implement my (brilliant! J) approach was too much.

So, now I am the self-appointed ambassador for my son and his SLP. It’s awkward, because I should be looking to her for the tools to reach and teach my boy. Nevertheless, I’m up to it. This probably won’t be the first time I “work with the system,” so I’m going to take it as an enormous learning opportunity. I secretly hope that a miracle will occur with Cheri, it would take a load off.

Speech Therapy

November 14, 2008

Tyoma’s Progress

Tyoma has been feeling well for the past few weeks, although he has been coping with a change of staff at KinderCare. On Oct 31, one of Tyoma’s teacher’s (his favorite!) was fired from her position. Although a staff member has filled her position, a few other temporary workers have rotated through the classroom—it was a chaotic week. He is adjusting to the situation, but I am uncertain if they have “settled” on a new girl. His meltdowns have practically vanished and are greatly reduced in intensity when they occur. 

• Tyoma communicates some internal states to us. He now consistently indicates when he is cold—I’d say almost 100%. We’ve gotten some “eat-eat-eats” out of him when he’s at the table, although I’m relying on schedules to keep him fed/hydrated.
• I have totally changed my focus regarding his speech—it’s now geared towards sharing and having conversations. This really works! He finishes sentences from his favorite books and songs and will answer some simple questions. I let him initiate conversations when we look at books or play. It’s generally a one or two “word” commentary.
• He’s been spelling words like exit, start, six, and open with his alphabet letters for about a week. He can sight read from some of his simpler books.
• His pronunciation of words remains about the same, with modest improvements, and nothing seems to improve it but time and repetition.
• Tyoma is using the word “where” appropriately.
• We started a gluten free/casein free diet Oct 31. We’ve noticed some improvements (25%) with his speech/play, but it could be incidental.
• He’s spending less time “organizing” the alphabet/numbers and playing alone. He’ll play alone for 10-15 minutes during the day before seeking me out, usually to show me a letter/number/book. He still has 30-45 of imposed quiet time in the evening, but will knock on his door to cue companionship.

Friday, November 7^th, I observed Tyoma in the playground for about 15 minutes. He spent most of the time running around by himself, or jogging by his peers without noticing them. Miss Ronda stated that this was fairly typical of him (70% time), although he does have “good” days when he runs along with his peers.

This Monday (10^th), I had my first official parent/teacher conference at KinderCare. Although I speak to the staff at least once a week, it was good to have some focused time without distractions. On the top of the list of my concerns was Tyoma’s social behavior. During our meeting, she said Tyoma has a “friendship vibe going on” with a boy named Vinny. Tyoma will run with him often and shows a preference to being next to him.

When asked about his participation, she mentioned that he does not like loud music or to play with musical instruments—he will leave the area when these activities take place.  This was a surprise to me since I have never noticed sound aversions at home, but in his defense, the music at daycare is thunderously loud. Miss Ronda also said that Tyoma does not seem to “get” painting. He goes through the motions but does not “engage” like his peers. I have noticed similar problems at and I have a plan to get him more involved.

Miss Ronda said that Tyoma has made great progress in sitting with his peers during snacks/meals. He is cooperative and will remain seated while eating. He also joins in circle time and “seems interested” in what is going on although he does not usually sing/talk/dance like his peers. Miss Ronda made one significant comment, “He is very compassionate.” She elaborated by saying that he notices when a classmate is crying or upset and that he seems concerned. He does do anything but watch intently until the situation is resolved.